


Ground Rules

by suecsit



Category: Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 05:40:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suecsit/pseuds/suecsit
Summary: Johnny sets some ground rules for the future of his "friendship" with Daniel Larusso. This chapter is the sequel to “Closing Time.” It began with a prompt this past summer and a short one-shot called “Sun Poisoning.”





	Ground Rules

**Author's Note:**

> Something I failed to mention earlier in this story’s notes is that Johnny and Daniel are slightly younger in this AU than they are in Cobra Kai. Not by much. Both have the same kids, same wives/ex-wives, and same high school history except that neither teaches karate. Oh, and Johnny is gay.

Johnny stood over the body curled up on his couch in the fetal position. It was past 9am. He didn’t have to go to the bar for at least five more hours, but if given the chance, Johnny figured Daniel might never remove himself from the couch. 

Therefore, he chose to use his stepfather’s old technique. He tossed half a glass of water on Daniel’s face. At that moment he couldn’t help but think “no mercy” from his old days in Cobra Kai. And then he pictured Daniel in the Cobra Kai gi—

He shut that line of thinking down immediately and watched as the man sat up in anger, looking around for the source of the cold water. “What the hell?” he demanded, throwing the blanket aside. 

“Morning, sunshine,” Johnny quipped. “There’s coffee. Drink some and then we can have our chat.”

Daniel grumbled to himself as he stood up and shook the water off of his face and hair. He ran his fingers through the dark brown locks to settle them. Johnny couldn’t help but think of that really cheesy 80s movie about the welder who danced in a nightclub where a bucket of water spilled all over her body. 

That was the movie that decided things for Johnny, whether he realized it on a conscious level or not. Every other guy who saw it had talked about how hot the lead actress was. He had had no reaction.

Until now, when a male counterpart was standing in front of him with the same coloring, three decades later. Of course this version was a lot less graceful.

Daniel stumbled into the kitchen. He opened and slammed cabinets searching for a coffee cup. Johnny thought at first of telling him that there was already one sitting out on the counter, but then figured it was more fun to watch him struggle. 

“Where are the—“

“Mugs? Right in front of you.” 

Daniel looked over by the Mr. Coffee, where a mug with “Panama City Beach” was emblazoned in pink letters. “Thanks,” he grumbled. He poured what looked like dark brown water into the cup and made a face. “I usually drink espresso.”

“I can’t tell you how much I really don’t care,” Johnny said. Sometimes he had no idea why he liked Daniel. The guy was an absolute snob. Not his type. Well, ok, that wasn’t entirely true. Johnny usually fell for the preppy, clean-cut type. Bobby had been the first of that ilk.

 

“You’re really not a morning person are you.”

Daniel just scowled. He took a sip and then rubbed his forehead. Johnny watched him maneuver his way back to the living room with a wary expression on his face. 

“Settle in because I have something to say.”

Daniel looked uncomfortable. He took another sip of coffee. Johnny observed that usually at this point Daniel would have had a sarcastic retort or snappy comeback, but the guy really looked rough after his long night. He remained sullen and silent, at least initially.

“Larusso,” he began.

“Daniel.”

“Ok, Daniel,” Johnny relented. He cleared his throat. “Look, it’s clear some weird shit’s happening to you. Your wife cheated on you, or maybe one of your kids is doing cocaine. I know you’re pretty sick of your job from what I’ve seen.”

Daniel sat back against the couch and rolled his eyes. 

“Ok, so that’s not it. Maybe you didn’t cope too well with Y2K or 9/11. Maybe something bad happened to your karate teacher…” Johnny’s voice trailed off because he began to sense an odd energy in the room that wasn’t there before.

“I don’t need psychoanalysis,” Daniel finally muttered. 

“Shut up. The point is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’re so down. I’m sorry I’m the only friend you’ve got.” Johnny couldn’t resist a pointed look at him since he wondered just how much Daniel remembered of his drunken confessions. 

Daniel met his eyes briefly but didn’t hold the gaze. “I don’t need your pity,” he said.  
The man looked down instead, his hands wrapped around the mug as if he were warming them by a fire in a snow-covered cottage rather than sitting in an apartment in southern California. 

 

Johnny realized he was now distracted by Daniel Larusso’s hands. He looked away and then took a deep breath before admitting what he needed to say. “But I fucked up my life pretty good some years back, and I don’t want to repeat that. I had lunch with a friend who reminded me—“

“Who?”

“Who, what?”

“Who did you have lunch with?”

“Is that important?”

“Just curious is all.”

“I saw an old friend who came into town. We caught up, and I happened to mention—“

“Was it Bobby?”

Johnny almost dropped his cup. “Huh?”

Daniel smirked. “I just figured it was the old boyfriend.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Actually it is. You’re the one who told me about him.”

Johnny and Daniel regarded each other for a long moment. Johnny finally cracked and let out a chuckle he had tried to swallow but couldn’t. “Fine, it was Bobby,” he admitted.

“Thought so.”

“Why does it matter?”

Daniel didn’t respond to that. His fingers traced the rim of the mug. Johnny was once again hypnotized.

“Hold up,” Johnny couldn’t help it. “Is this jealousy?”

“Fuck you.”

“Is that what you want?”

Now Daniel looked flustered. He opened his mouth but couldn’t form words. “I—“

Johnny waited. 

“That night you came over, when I put on the gi, I thought…”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I thought maybe we’d hook up or something. But you stopped.”

“I stopped because you looked like Bambi in the headlights.”

“That was only because my family—“

“You were scared they’d barge in. I don’t blame you. We stopped for another reason, too, though.”

“And?”

“You were drunk.”

“So?”

“SO? Laru—Daniel, I’m not going to ‘hook up’ with you if you’re drunk.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it would be wrong.”

Daniel suddenly spit his coffee out, his face wakening and reacting to the conversation in a more animated fashion. “Because…what? What did you say?”

Johnny knew where this was going. “I said it would be wrong.”

“That’s rich. Coming from you. Johnny, you tried to kill me when we were kids. You pushed me off a cliff.”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration…”

Daniel just stared. “I can’t believe you. You’ll beat me up but you won’t have sex with me.”

“That’s not—“

“I mean everybody has their kinks. You want to throw a punch first before you nail me to the bed? Go ahead, nothing shocks me.”

“Wow. I don’t even—“

“You said you had a crush on me.”

Johnny put his cup aside and held his head in his hands. “And I shouldn’t have. I was messing with you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Fine, it was true. So what?”

“You still like me.”

Johnny looked up at Daniel, his hands thrown up in exasperation. “Doesn’t mean I have to act on it.”

Daniel set his mug down and crossed over to Johnny. He sat on the floor, at the side of the man’s knee, his hand touching it. Johnny looked at the fingers resting on the bare skin with interest. The smell of alcohol in Daniel’s pores was overwhelming at that moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was glad he was wearing shorts. 

“What do I have to do?” Daniel asked.

Johnny was suddenly disarmed. This wasn’t in his head anymore. This was happening. And they were at the start of something; he could feel his feet moving closer to the edge. Only this time Daniel was the one trying to push HIM off the precipice.

“For starters, no touching if you’re drunk. Period.”

Daniel rested his chin on Johnny’s knee and looked up at him. Johnny had a feeling that Daniel knew exactly what he was doing, even if he was way out of his league. The brunette sighed. “You do know you own a bar, right?”

“Doesn’t mean you have to get wasted.” He couldn’t help it. His hand went out to move through Daniel’s brown hair, combing the damp strands back. Daniel closed his eyes and leaned closer.

“I can handle it.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I just said no touching.” The irony of him carding his fingers through Daniel’s hair at the same moment he said this didn’t escape Johnny. 

Daniel sighed. “What else?” he murmured, clearly enjoying how his scalp was being gently massaged. “Told you you’re in the wrong career,” he mumbled, his eyes still closed. “You cured my headache that day. You’re doing it again…”

“You gotta do something different,” he said softly. Daniel’s eyes opened. “See a therapist. Pick a new job. Tell your family the truth. You don’t have to do all those things. Just start with one.”

“It’s that simple, huh?”

“It’s that simple. It’s not easy, but it’s that simple.” Daniel held his gaze. Johnny melted; he wanted to lean down and kiss him, hold him and reassure him that everything would be ok. 

Instead, he remained sitting upright, but his fingers traced a path until he was cupping Daniel’s chin. “You and me…we’re in our 40s, man. This self-pity shit can eat us alive.”

Daniel blinked, again looking a bit like Bambi in headlights. “You’re not wrong,” he admitted.

“About which part?”

“All of it.”

“So something did happen with….”

Daniel moved away and pulled himself to a standing position. “Not now,” he said, almost under his breath. Then he was looking around for his wallet. He found it on the side table near the couch. Johnny watched him pocket it and then reach for his keys. 

“I’ll start this weekend,” he said. He crossed back to Johnny, who was still sitting. “I’ll tell them I blew off San Diego.” He then pulled his crumpled tie out of his other pocket and slung it around his neck. 

Johnny stood and helped him with it. His fingers were warm and certain as he tied a loose knot. 

“Not bad for a guy who never wears a tie,” Daniel said.

“You’re not the only one full of surprises,” Johnny replied. He pulled Daniel in, his hands cupping the side of his face, and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. He held it there, sensing that Daniel wanted more. He wanted to give it to him. 

“We’re sober, aren’t we?” Daniel whispered, reaching out to put his hand around Johnny’s neck and pull his body closer.

Johnny allowed it for a moment. Then he playfully shoved Daniel back. “Go brush your teeth before you kill me with your breath.”

“Why do you have to be such a dick?”

“Lifetime of practice.”

“I believe it.”  
Johnny walked outside with Daniel. The sun was too bright, and both of them shielded their eyes from it. 

“Johnny…”

“I know.” He smiled at Daniel. “You’re welcome.”

“This whole nursemaid routine is getting a little weird. Sorry I’m always a walking disaster when you see me.”

“Hey, I was the one who pushed you off the cliff. Might as well keep you from getting hurt now if I couldn’t way back then.” 

Johnny waited for Daniel to make some kind of remark about the infamous crush and the connection between violence and infatuation. He didn’t.

“Anyway, I’ll see you.”

“Stay hydrated,” Johnny teased. “Looks like the sun’s a monster today.” He watched Daniel walk out to his car, his jacket slung over one shoulder as it was the night before. The man was a walking disaster, he thought. But Daniel was HIS walking disaster, and no one, not even Bobby, could talk him out of that fact.


End file.
